SMOKERS in Wirral are being urged to prepare for battle and attempt to give up the cigarettes for good this Wednesday as part of No Smoking Day.

One in five adults in the UK smoke, including 22% Wirral, but studies show around two third of smokers want to quit.

This year’s No Smoking Day, which takes place on March 12, has a ‘V for Victory’ theme and Wirral health chiefs hope this will inspire hundreds of thousands of smokers to win the fight against cigarettes.

The campaign aims to help smokers on the road to victory, providing information, support and encouragement to put together a personal battle plan so they are in the best possible position to make a successful quit attempt on the day.

NHS Wirral Clinical Commissioning Group is supporting the campaign on to inspire quitters and send them on the road to victory.

Dr Abhi Mantgani, chief clinic officer for the Wirral CCG, said: “No Smoking Day is a great opportunity for us to encourage and support smokers in Wirral to quit alongside hundreds of thousands of other people across the UK.

“We know that quitting isn’t easy but we want to reassure smokers that support is available to them and that they can win the battle against cigarettes.”

The annual campaign is run by the British Heart Foundation and encouraged one million smokers to make a quit attempt last year.

Dr Mike Knapton, associate medical director at BHF, said: “Our ‘V for Victory’ message is set to inspire smokers to win the battle against cigarettes even if they’ve already attempted to quit in the past.

“Quitting smoking is the single best thing people can do for their health and we want to arm smokers with information and support that will send them on the road to victory.

“We’re encouraging smokers to mark Wednesday, March 12 in their diary to join hundreds of thousands of other quitters in attempting to stub out cigarettes for good.”

For more information, visit nosmokingday.org.uk